Security Blanket
by NikitaBurton
Summary: Peyton finds herself happier than she's ever been before. She engaged to be married and with child. Will the happiness last?
1. We All Scream for Ice Cream

"You look gorgeous." Lucas cooed, as he awoke to find a very pregnant Peyton cradling a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby on her stomach, while watching some television show about the history of ice cream.

"Shut up, I do not." She disagreed, putting her spoon in the container. "You on the other hand…" Peyton rolled over to meet her fiancé's lips. Throughout her pregnancy, she craved many things from peanut butter & bacon sandwiches to mayonnaise, right out of the jar. The only two things she was always craving were ice cream, and sex. Lucas was happy to oblige, even combining the two on a few occasions. To him, Peyton had never been sexier.

… "Look sexy as hell." She finished, kissing Lucas again.

Lucas pulled away, causing the blonde to pout. "We should get ready."

"What for?" She wondered. " Let's stay in bed all day."

"Wish we could, Nathan and Haley wanted us over for brunch, remember?"

"Damn, I forgot about that." Peyton slipped her spoon full of ice cream into Lucas' mouth. " We've got some time. Meet me in the shower."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Lucas was surprised that Peyton hadn't found out about her surprise. Usually, he can't keep a thing from her. Peyton can always tell when he's hiding something. And one kiss from Peyton is all it takes for Lucas to spill. The surprise this time was her baby shower.

When Haley came to Lucas, begging to throw a shower, he couldn't say no.

As they pulled up to the house, Nathan was walking out of the door. He waved at the two blondes in the mustang coming towards him.

"Hey Nate. What's going on?" Peyton's smile was large. It was amazing to think her first boyfriend was now her brother-in-law. Well, going to be her brother-in-law.

Nathan walked over to Peyton and embraced her. "You look about ready to pop." He laughed.

Peyton playfully slapped him, "Ass… I know. None of my clothes fit me anymore, its horrible. I made Luke buy me an oversized Dash t-shirt, just so I could feel like me again."

"Dadda!" The little voice called, following it came Jamie who was holding a basketball.

"What little man?" Nathan asked.

"Momma wants Aunt Peyton to come inside _right now_."

Peyton raised and eyebrow. "Guess I better get inside." Lucas kissed her temple and watched her waddle her way into his brother's house.

"Surprise!" A plethora of woman yelled out as Peyton shut the door behind her.

She giggled to see the women closest to her gathered up in Haley's living room.

"Come, sit down." Brooke grabbed Peyton's hand and led her to a loudly decorated chair with a banner above it that read "Mommy-To-Be." She sat down, and Brooke placed a crown upon her head, which was handed to her by Lily.

"Is that Lily I see?" Peyton wondered aloud.

"Yes it is!" Lily confirmed.

"Well, come here kiddo and give me a hug." Lily obliged and jumped into her sister-in-law's arms. "Are you excited to be an Aunt?

"Duh." She stated. The group of women laughed. Lily was too adorable for words. When Karen told her that Lucas and Peyton were going to have a baby, she proclaimed that it had better be a girl or else.

"It's a girl, right?" She asked, wide-eyed.

"Don't know. Your brother and I want it to be a surprise."

It was Peyton's idea, Lucas was very eager to find out the sex of the baby. He had been adamantly focused on the decoration of the nursery. Peyton said it should be painted red, no matter what the sex of the baby was. This didn't sit well with Lucas. He couldn't fathom red for a nursery. It just didn't seem right. However, he went along with Peyton's wishes. He and Nathan painted the room red, only to have Peyton change her mind half-way through the first coat.

"This doesn't work." She had said. Later, Peyton went out to buy a soft green color for the walls.

"Whatever it is, it will be loved." Lily said, hugging Peyton again. "But I really hope it's a girl." She whispered causing Peyton to chuckle.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

As per tradition, the men were not allowed to be present at the baby shower, so Lucas, Nathan, Jamie, Skills and Andy found themselves ostracized down at the Rivercourt.

"How 'bout a game of two-on-two?" Jamie asked, as he slipped his Ravens jersey over his head.

"Alright, J. Luke, you pick teams." Lucas allowed the idea.

"Dadda, you are with me." Jamie points to Nathan who walked over and high fives him. Lucas is jokingly offended.

"I thought you were going to pick me." He complained.

"Sorry, Uncle Lucas… but I want to win." Jamie said point blank, causing a stir of laughter from the group of men.

"Andy, why don't you an' Luke play together. I'll sit dis one out." Skills offered, he thought it felt like a family game.

Lucas shook his head to Skills, who was already making his way onto the benches to sit with Mouth who had a microphone in hand. It almost felt like they were back in high school again.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Mia this is amazing." Peyton said, thanking her musically gifted friend for a CD of Lullabies played by Mia herself. "I can't wait to listen to it."

"Its from me and Haley, actually." Mia corrected Peyton. "Now you know why Haley and I shoved you out of the studio all those days." Mia laughed, sticking out her tongue.

"And here I thought you guys just didn't like me anymore." Peyton stuck her tongue out in return. "Thanks." Peyton smiled.

"Okay, what's next?" Brooke reached down in the present pile for her gift. She set it atop of Peyton's empty lap.

"Open up, P. Sawyer." She demanded with excitement.

Peyton did just that, she opened the ribbon covered box to find a quilt. It was filled, covered with pictures of she and Lucas. There was even a snap shot of the two of them kissing at the championship game. Peyton wondered how Brooke managed to find a picture of the moment, for she had never seen one before.

She felt her eyes well up.

"Oh no, don't cry." Brooke pleaded, placing her hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"I can't help it. Thank you, Brooke. Its… I can't even describe how much this means to me. Thank you so much. I love you." The two girls hug, as the rest of the women "aww" and find themselves tearing up along with Peyton and her best friend.

"Okay, how about something that won't make Peyton cry?" Deb suggested.

"Deb, you didn't get a stripper did you?" Karen worriedly inquired.

"No, but if you girl's want a stripper, I know a boy who…"

Haley put her hand up to Deb's mouth, "No, no. Its okay Deb. Why don't we all just play a game?"

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"That's game." Nathan said as Jamie threw the ball into the hoop.

"No fair." Andy whined.

"Its not my fault, I'm better at basketball than you, and that I'm taller than you." Jamie proclaimed, sticking his hands on his hips.

"James Lucas Scott ends the game with a ball in the hoop and a punch in the gut." Narrated Mouth.

The boys laughed.

"Dadda, can I get a drink?"

Nathan pulled his car keys out of his pocket and threw them to Skills who was still grinning over Jamie's smack talk. "Skills, would you grab Jamie a juice box out of the cooler in the trunk?"

"Sure thing." Skills said. "C'mon, Jamie, I'll race ya." He challenged his fair headed little friend.

"So how much longer until the party is over?" Queried Andy.

"Haley said she'd text me when they're done." Nathan said, looking at his phone. "I'm sure we'll be waiting quite a while."

The boys walked over to the bench to join Mouth. "So Luke, did you and Peyton pick any names out yet?"

___________________________________________________________________________________

"Anna, if it's a girl." Peyton stated. "Anna Elizabeth Scott."

Haley sighed, "Sounds like the name of a future Queen… What if it's a boy?"

"Lucas really would like him to be named Keith. I guess you can sense an achingly sad pattern." She grimaced and laughed.

"Keith?" Karen asked, obviously moved by the choice.

"He was Lucas' father." Peyton stated.

"Great, now I'm going to cry." Karen expressed, all choked up.

Peyton had been secretly hoping that Karen, Lily and Andy would move back to Tree Hill. Although she had Haley to talk to about all the baby stuff, she longed for a motherly figure. A figure she always found in Karen.

"How about some cake?" Haley offered.

"Is it ice cream?" Peyton wished. It seemed as though her craving for ice cream never went away.

Haley snorted, "Of course… Deb you want to help me bring it in?" She asked. Deb nodded and followed Haley into the kitchen.

"You think we should invite the boys back for cake?" Brooke wondered.

"No way." Shouted the blonde. "More cake for me." She smiled.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

All the boys were sitting on the bench, each with a juice box in hand.

"Can I be the godfather, Uncle Lucas?" Jamie speculated aloud.

Nathan sensed that Jamie was serious, "I don't know, Jamie. Maybe if you were a little older." He explained. He had already assumed that he and Haley were going to be the baby's godparents.

"Peyton and I haven't decided on that yet, actually." Lucas said, scratching his head. "She's torn between Haley and Brooke."

_Don't call it a comeback._

_I've been here for years,_

_Rockin' my peers._

Nathan's phone rang, and the guys cackled over his ludicrous ring tone.

"Its Haley." He reads the text. "You boys can come back now."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The boys entered the living room to find what was left of the girls sprawled out everywhere.

Peyton was now out of her chair as per request of Lily, and was sitting with Brooke on the couch, who was rubbing Peyton's shoulders.

"Hey boys." Haley greeted her men with hugs and kisses.

"Luke." Peyton called, causing Brooke to stop massaging Peyton. Lucas walked over to her and planted a kiss on her lips. "Hey baby."

"Hey baby." He said, placing his hand on her stomach. "You ready to go?"

"Definitely." She cooed, kissing Lucas again.

"We loaded the car up for you." Haley said licking frosting off of her finger.

"Thanks for everything, Haley. I had a great time." Peyton reached out for a hug. "Now I can't wait for my bridal shower." She chuckled.

"I won't forget the stripper next time." Deb pronounced with certainty.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Happy to be home?" Lucas asked, setting down a cup of tea on Peyton's nightstand. She was reading What To Expect When You're Expecting, a gift from Lucas when they found out about the pregnancy. They had been reading it together almost every night since.

"Always." She smiled. "You coming to bed?"

Lucas looked at his watch. "Its only 5." He chuckled. "But, why not." He slipped off his jeans and got under the covers with Peyton. She snuggled up against him.

"Will you read to me?" She wondered.

"Sure, just hand me the book." He said, speaking of the pregnancy book.

"No, read Ravens to me, please."

"Okay." He agreed to the choice of reading materials, and pulled the novel out of his nightstand drawer. As he began to read to Peyton, she fell asleep to the sound of their story.


	2. Having My Baby

**A/N: I know, two chapters in one day is weird. Probably won't happen again. I plan on updating weekly from now on. Hope you are all liking the story so far. Things won't be light and fluffy for much longer, so don't get used to it. =P**

"Are you ever going to show me the supposedl wondrous gift that Brooke gave to you?" Lucas asked, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

It had been a week since the shower, and Peyton hadn't let him see the quilt Brooke had made.

Lucas was in the nursery putting the crib together. He wasn't exactly the handiest of men, but he sure looked good trying to be, Peyton thought. "Finish the crib and I'll show you."

He chuckled. "A little incentive?"

"What more do you need?" She asked, pulling down the collar of her shit, revealing some cleavage.

The cleavage was Peyton's favorite part of the pregnancy. Never before had she had any. Lucas wasn't complaining about the chest situation either. Peyton took notice of his liking towards her new found friends in bed. He now spent more time on them than he ever had before. This was something Peyton thoroughly enjoyed.

"Ouch." She groaned, placing both hands on her stomach.

"What is it?" Lucas asked with worry. He put down his tools and guided Peyton to a rocking chair, to sit down. "You don't think its…"

"Contractions?" Peyton grunted.

"Should we go to the…"

"Hospital." Peyton stated.

"Now isn't the time to be finishing my sentences, Peyton." He smiled, and kissed her hand. "Let me call the doctor." Lucas left the room.

Peyton began breathing exercises she learned in the one Lamaze class she had taken with Lucas. They only managed to make it to one. Lucas had been too busy with the Ravens movie, so he bought a Lamaze for Dummies book. Neither he or Peyton gave it a look though.

"Okay, he said we should come in. Since you had those pains early on in your pregnancy, he doesn't want to take any chances." He face was filled with worry and joy all at the same time.

"Get my bag ready, and I'll call Brooke."

They packed the bag just the day before. Peyton's due date wasn't for another two weeks. She just figured better safe than sorry. Nothing ever went according to plan, especially concerning she and Lucas.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Somehow Lucas managed to get Peyton a private room. They had not met with the doctor yet. A few nurses had been in to check on Peyton, and run a few tests.

"Miss Sawyer, its Nurse Bellows, can I come in?"

"Sure." Peyton called, as a short stumpy nurse walked into the room. She slipped some gloves onto her hands.

"The doctor wants me to see how far you are dilated."

Peyton nodded, and Lucas walked up to the head of the bed. She put her feet on the stirrups, and held onto Lucas' hand.

"About 5 centimeters. You are half-way there." Nurse Bellows smiled, and took off her gloves.

Peyton removed her legs from the stirrups and felt a contraction coming on. "Jesus Christ!" She yelled out, squeezing Lucas' hand.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Luke!" Brooke called out, spotting Lucas who was getting some ice chips at the Nurse's station. "How's she doing?"

He hugged Brooke, "Incredibly. They are about to move her into delivery."

"What are you doing out here then?" She wondered. Lucas looked down at his cup full of ice and gulped a few of the pieces down.

"I guess I'm a little scared." He chuckled. "Look, I haven't gotten a chance to call Nathan & Haley or my mom. Do you think you could do that for me?"

"Of course." She agreed, and hugged Lucas again. "Lucas Scott is going to be a father." She said with amazement. "Give Peyton a kiss for me."

Lucas nodded and walked back to Peyton's room.

"Brooke's here." He said before noticing she was in the middle of another contraction. Again he gave his love his hand to squeeze, and she squeezed the hell out of it.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Peyton decided to have a natural childbirth. She didn't want to be in excruciating pain, but she also didn't want to give birth to a virtually drugged up baby. Lucas tried to coerce her in changing her mind, but she wouldn't budge.

The delivery room was approximately the same size as the previous room they had been in. Peyton was allowed to have two people in with her. Lucas of course was one, and she wanted someone to video tape the grand event, so she chose Brooke as her other person.

Brooke was certain this meant she was going to be named the godmother of the baby.

Labor was not agreeing with Peyton.

"Damn you, Lucas Scott!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, concurrently pushing as hard as she could.

"You're doing great, Peyton. Just a couple more pushes." The doctor encouraged, popping his head out from Peyton's nether regions.

Again she pushed, the pain showed on her face. Lucas wished there was a way he could take the hurt away. All he could do was offer his hand to squeeze.

"I see the head!" Brooke cheered as she held the camera.

"Okay, one more big push, Peyton." Declared the doctor.

With all her might, Peyton pushed and the baby was out. The cries were loud, which was a great sign.

"It's a girl!" The brunette howled.

Peyton smiled, and laid her head down on her pillow.

"A little girl, Peyton. We have a daughter." Lucas' emotions were too overwhelming to stifle. He kissed Peyton and rested his head on hers', crying out the tears of joy.

"I love you, Lucas." She cooed.

"Would you like to hold her, Ms. Sawyer?" Asked the nurse who had cleaned the little one up, and bundled her in a cozy pink blanket.

"Yes, of course."

The nurse gently placed the baby in Peyton's arms. Peyton's eyes were focused on the new life in her hands.

"Hi there Anna. Its so good to finally meet you." Peyton whispered so lightly that Lucas could barely hear the first words spoken to his daughter.

The moment and the few that followed were so astonishingly surreal. Having a baby is said to be the greatest joy in this life. Lucas and Peyton were learning that fact first hand.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Peyton came home with Anna two days later, to find the nursery completely finished. Lucas had Nathan put together the rest of the crib, and Brooke and Haley put some final decorative touches on it.

The quilt Brooke had made, found its way onto the rocking chair that sat directly across from the crib.

"Welcome home my girls." Lucas murmured as he led Peyton into their bedroom.

For now, a basinet was where Anna would spend her nights. Both Lucas and Peyton were too nervous to have her sleep by herself, at least for the first few weeks of her life.

Peyton placed Anna into her basinet, so she could get settled in bed. The doctor had ordered bed rest for the next few days, just to get her strength back up.

"I love you." She mouthed to the little one who was suckling on her thumb.

"I love you, Peyton." Lucas declared, gazing at Peyton with an overwhelming amount of joy. "You were so strong, you don't even know."

He walked over to the blonde and wrapped her in his arms. "You are a superhero." He uttered with a smile.

Peyton chuckled and laid a kiss on Lucas' lips. "Don't forget it." She kissed him again.

"Oh, you are in so much trouble when this bed rest business is over."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It was Friday night when the doctor said Peyton didn't have to be on bed rest any longer.

Haley knew this and invited her family and herself over to make dinner for the new parents, who were more than happy to oblige to the offer.

Like usual, Haley entered the house without knocking. She hadn't knocked on the Scott's door since the summer she and Lucas were 11. Haley practically spent every night with Lucas, so Karen went as far as giving Haley her own house key.

"Hello, Luke. Peyton?" She bellowed from the living room.

Lucas was in the kitchen, with Peyton and Brooke who were cooing over little Anna.

"In the kitchen, Hales."

Haley ran into the kitchen. "Let me see her."

"Want to hold her, Haley?" Peyton offered.

"Uh, yeah. Can I?" She cried with excitement. Haley was already an Aunt, her sister Taylor had a little boy about a year after Jamie was born. Taylor lived too far away to visit often, so this was different. Haley felt a deep connection to this child from the moment she heard about the pregnancy.

Peyton placed Anna into Haley's arms.

"I think I'm going to cry. She's so beautiful."

Brooke pulled her camera out of her purse and took a snapshot of the two. It seemed like every other minute Brooke was taking pictures. "Don't you want to remember all of this?" She had said to Lucas who confronted her about the constant flashes.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Dinner was delectable. Haley made baked ziti, one of Lucas' favorites.

After the meal was consumed, Jamie and Anna passed out in Lucas and Peyton's room.

"This is what its all about." Brooke expressed, on the verge of tears.

"It really is." Agreed her blonde friend. "You think you and Julian…?"

"No." Brooke detested. "At least not yet. He doesn't even live here."

Brooke and Julian's relationship was particularly solid considering he was living in Los Angeles for the time being. After the movie finished filming a couple months back, he had to leave. Like clockwork though, he showed up at Brooke's door every other Friday night. This was not one of those Fridays.

"Someday." Was all Peyton uttered, and it was enough.

"I don't want to kick you all out, but its almost 9, so that means if Peyton and I are lucky Anna won't be waking up for another 4 hours." Lucas stated, looking at his watch.

"Say no more, Luke. We'll get out of your hair."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Anna woke up right after everyone left. Peyton fed her quietly, as Lucas put on the CD of lullabies Mia and Haley had recorded. The first song was an acoustic version of "You are My Sunshine."

After Anna finished eating, she dozed off immediately.

"Lucas, take her for me." Peyton asked, handing Anna over to her father.

He smiled down at Anna. "Goodnight, darling." He whispered lightly before getting into bed with Peyton.

"Do you want to have another one?" He suggested, causing Peyton to slap his shoulder.

"Next time we have one, you're going to be the one giving birth." She toyed.

"Come here." He chuckled, opening his arms, inviting Peyton to enter their warmth.

She snuggled up onto him, and rested her head on his chest. The sound of his heart, although it was flawed, was seductively lulling.

"Do you want me to read to you tonight? We're at the part after the attack, and you start spending your night's with me." Lucas offered. It was one of his favorite parts of the story to relive.

Although the attack was terribly disturbing, having Peyton by his side every night was dream worthy. Some night's he'd barely get any sleep. His focus would be on her. The way she mumbled nonsense and the way her leg would find its way to his side of the bed.

One night in particular was rather worth remembering. Peyton had a panic attack at the beginning of the school day, and he had spent the rest of his day worrying about her. She climbed into his bed and bundled her delicate self into his arms that night, breathing only three words before she fell asleep; "I need you."

Those three words caused a stirring in him that he managed to stifle until the championship game.

"Sure, I love falling asleep to the sound of your voice." She accepted his offer.

**_____________________________________________________________________________________**


End file.
